


This Fantastic Wonderland

by hariboo



Series: The Tenderhearted [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 04:50:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1089811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hariboo/pseuds/hariboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle meets Aurora in the diner when she wanders in early in the morning. Her hair is damp from morning drizzle that is falling, eyes wide and under, and her lips are downturned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Fantastic Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

  * For [little_giddy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_giddy/gifts).



> I only really tumblr watch OUAT now via gifs. I did watch it in season one and parts of season two, so I’m sorry if I’ve taken character liberties that might seem OOC, but whatever it’s an AU anyway! Partly inspired by [this gif set](http://hariboo.tumblr.com/post/64789776690/sleeping-warrior-modern-day-au).

Belle meets Aurora in the diner when she wanders in early in the morning. Her hair is damp from morning drizzle that is falling, eyes wide and under, and her lips are downturned. She looks a little lost. Unfocused, like she just woke up from a long dream and it wasn’t a good one.

Belle feels an immediate fondness for her. Ruby tells her she’s too sweet, too nice, but Ruby shouldn’t be complaining about how nice Belle is since Belle is opening the diner for her while Ruby grumbles about the time because she overslept, again. Belle had already been up a good twenty minutes enjoying her morning tea and pushing forward on her current favourite book when Ruby rolled out of bed and probably broke their new alarm clock. She then proceeded to curse and rush across the bathroom and bedroom when Belle walked in, kissed her good morning, handed her a cup of coffee (black and overly sweet), and told she’d open the diner for her. 

Ruby had pressed her against their wardrobe door and promised her orgasms as thanks tonight. Ruby always knows the best way to say thank you. And Belle is planning to collect, she thinks with a smile, as she watches her newest customer eye ever single table and flick cautious eyes to Belle.

It reminds her of when she first came into town after moving away from her dad’s, how for some reason it was Red Wolf Diner, with it’s ominous name and friendly lettering that drew her in on her first day and it’s owner, with her sharp grin and gorgeous eyes, that kept her coming back. (The food wasn’t bad either, which was her excuse for a long time.) Belle remembers feeling lost and displaced that day until she saw Ruby’s grin welcoming her in.

She’s not planning to seduce their newcomer, she’s in a perfectly happy and committed relationship, but she does want to make her feel welcome. She wants to soothe that nervous energy that surrounds her. Ruby tells her she’s too kind, Emma, Snow and David tell her she’s sweet; Mulan kisses Belle’s cheek and tell her she’s the best. Belle just likes making sure people feel comfortable and happy.

So she adopts her best grin and calls the girl over. “You can come sit at the bar, if you want. This place won’t get busy for a while.”

The girl stiffens, like she wasn’t expecting Belle to address her in her search for a table and swallows thickly. Belle can see the line of the throat work as she fiddles with her scarf. It’s a lovely pink and green blue knitted one. The colours blend prettily and there’s a bit of a sparkle to the thread. Like fairy dust. Belle finds it charming.

“Oh, um, thank you,” the girl says. English, Belle notes and grins wider. Another ex-pat of a sort. The girl walks over, pulling off her light blue jacket and slides into the bar stool in front of Belle. “I’m sorry, I’m new in town and I have absolutely nothing in my fridge and I didn’t know where else to go. Your diner is the closest place I wouldn’t get lost walking too.”

She’s cute, Belle thinks. There’s a sweetness in her that opens her face as she talks and settles. 

“Don’t worry about, I did the same thing my first day here. I’m Belle,” she says extending her hand. 

“Aurora,” she smiles back, taking Belle’s hand.

“Welcome to town,” Belle says, handing over a menu. “Here, take your time. You’re our first today, there’s no rush. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Thank you,” Aurora says, biting her lips, eyes flitting over the menu. When she looks back up at Belle she looks a little shy. Belle smiles encouragingly. 

“I don’t suppose you have tea-- Like proper tea? Not that-- It’s not that I dislike American tea, but they--”

“Just don’t make it right,” they both say and Aurora flushes and grins, nodding. Belle understands. It’s one of the smaller comforts from from back home she’s retained. 

“You definitely picked the right place then to wander into. I’ve made sure we have proper tea. Ruby didn’t even really have tea on the menu before I came along. Any preference?”

Aurora shrugs, “Earl Grey if you can.”

“We can! Let me get that going for you, and you can look through the menu.” Belle extends and watches as some more of the strain from Aurora shoulders leaves. She turns to go into the back and get out of their nicer teapots. They don’t have many because outside Belle and sometimes Cillian, Mulan, and Snow there’s not that many avid tea drinkers that come into the diner. And Belle has her own set up upstairs, while Mulan’s tea is this strong aromatic one she gets specially from her grandmother that they stock solely for her when she’s pulling all nighters in the backbooth for her for her schoolwork .

The pot she picks for Aurora is white with pink, green, and blue flowers. The cup and milk holder matches. It reminds Belle of Aurora’s scarf. She digs around for a shortbread biscuits she keeps down here and readies the milk. If Aurora becomes a regular she’ll have to learn how she takes her tea and teach Ruby to do it. She’s in the middle of pouring the water into the pot and prepping the leaves into the holder when Ruby finally makes it downstairs and eyes her and the tea.

“I’m serious, you’re addicted.” She grinning and slips her arm around Belle’s waist kissing her cheek. 

Belle rolls her eyes. “It’s not for me, you lazy arse. You’ve got a newcomer.”

“Oh?” Ruby pulls back and starts getting the kitchen ready. It’s all warmed up, Belle made sure, but Ruby is pulling down pots and pans and talking out the eggs. Ella is normally the cook but she has her nursing exams coming up so Ruby shifted her into the afternoon rush so she can sleep in the mornings. Ruby still isn’t completely used to the change in schedule herself. Hence the oversleeping. 

Her eyes narrow at the news, but Belle isn’t surprised. Ruby is more than a bit like the wolf that covers her sign. Usually nocturnal, fiercely protective, and cautious of new people that walk into her territory. She also likes to bite. Belle leans across the small space between them and kisses her. She loves her for her protectiveness. She’s not opposed to the biting either.

“Relax, she seems sweet. Reminds me a bit of myself when I first got here. She’s English, like Cillian.”

Ruby turns, her eyebrows winging up. The wings of her eyeliner -- bright red and extra long today -- make her look more otherworldly than usual. Belle steps over and kisses her. They’re wearing the same lipstick, the one Belle left on the bathroom counter before she came downstairs, and it smudges a bit between their lips. 

“You better not be thinking of replacing me, Lucas.”

Ruby laughs against Belle’s mouth and pulls her closer, their thighs slotting together. Belle’s skirts fold over Ruby’s dark jeans. “Never, French. You know wolves mate for life,” she grins, sharp and sweet, and nips at Belle’s jaw. They both giggle until Belle pulls back and grabs the tea tray. On a whim she grabs another cup, her own special one. 

“Come on, come meet your new regular, I hope.”

“You better not be replacing _me_ ,” Ruby grumbles and Belle snorts. Like she would ever. She tells Ruby as much as they push the diner door open and Aurora looks up. Her eyes flick from Belle, to Ruby, back to Belle and then the tea. Belle bumps Ruby with her hip.

“Say hello.”

Ruby grabs the tray from her, one handed, the show off, and pats Belle’s hip. “Get out of here.” Belle laughs and rounds the counter and sits by Aurora as Ruby sets the tray down.

“Hi, I’m Ruby Lucas, welcome to my diner.”

Aurora looks between them more than a little confused. Belle reaches over and starts setting up their tea. She smiles at Aurora. “I don’t actually work here, officially, I run the library down the street, but when this one is too lazy to get out of bed, I do my duty as loveliest girlfriend ever and open for her.” 

Ruby laughs loudly as she readies the coffee machine. Aurora looks between them and grabs her tea cup with a soft, “oh.” There’s a soft blush on her cheeks.

Belle and Ruby’s eyes meet. Belle smiles at her girlfriend, Ruby winks back. She turns to Aurora, rolling her eyes, “Yeah, she’s the best all right. She take care of you?”

Aurora nods, “Um, yes. She was very nice,” she seems to cringe and turns to Belle. “You were very nice. Good. Friendly.”

“Thank you,” Belle smiles. “I was trained by the best.” She grins at Ruby. “Her grandmother.”

Ruby rolls her eyes again, “Too friendly. Did you even take her order?”

Belle takes a sip of her tea and then sticks out her tongue as magnanimously as she can. “I was making her tea.”

“So, no.”

“So not my job.”

“Worst girlfriend ever.”

“I don’t know why I stay with you, frankly.”

Aurora’s giggle catches them off guard. They both turn to her. She looks the most relaxed she has since she entered the diner. Outside the rain is falling a bit harder and soon people will start trickling in looking for warm food and setting. Belle loves the diner for that alone. Her library is a different kind of sanctuary, quieter, softer, but she hopes just as cozy Ruby makes the diner.

Under their attention she flushes again and pulls her tea closer to her body. Belle remembers being so blindly enchanted by Ruby when she first met her she’d flushed under her look too, but not quite as shy as Aurora seems.

Ruby looks at Belle quickly again before turning her full attention to Aurora. “So, what would you like to eat?”

Aurora’s eyes flick down to the menu again and bites her lips. When she looks up she says in the surest voice Belle has heard from her all morning: “Veggie omelette, please, and some orange juice.”

Ruby nods and jots the order down, telling them she’ll be right back. She doesn’t ask Belle what she wants, the remnants of her breakfast are upstairs in the sink. 

As Ruby leaves the room, Belle and Aurora drink their tea in comfortable silence until curiosity gets the better of her. She can’t help it, she just likes knowing things.

“Can I ask why you moved to town? Or am I being horribly nosey?”

Aurora stares at her tea for a minute. “Needed a change, to be honest. Time to grow up, be a grown up. I’ve cousin that lives in town, but he’s off on his boat now. I came a few days early than he expected me.”

Belle does the mental run down of the neighbourhood and town. “Oh, Cillian! You’re the cousin!”

Aurora turns red. “He’s been talking about me?”

Belle laughs, “I don’t know if you know this, but your cousin is a gossip. He talks about everything.”

Aurora snorts, covering her face with hands. “Oh my,” she laughs again, hands still over her face, “he really is though!”

Nodding, Belle watches as Aurora opens up, slowly. The rain outside has muted the colours of the day, but Aurora seems to be gaining a brightness. 

She’s about to ask what she’s planning to do now that she’s in town when the bell dings open harshly and she watches Aurora stiffen a bit, her head swirling around to see who came in. She doesn’t look scared or upset, but there’s something there. Something that tells Belle they’ll need to be gentle with her. She has a feeling not many people have been very kind or gentle with Aurora. 

Belle doesn’t look back, doesn’t need to. Mulan’s voice carries as she whips off her coat and baseball cap. She’s cursing the rain and cursing Archie’s car, which from the sounds of it she’s had to tow in the rain. Archie should really get a new car, it was constantly breaking down. She’s also cursing Robin from the sounds of it for giving her the morning shift when she drops down on Aurora’s other side head folded on her arm on the counter and covers one of Aurora’s forearms with her hand. Belle watches as Aurora stays stiff, her eyes blinking quickly, and swallows hard. Belle chokes back a laugh.

“Belleeeee,” Mulan extends her name for two whole beats, head still buried in her other arm, “I need all the coffee you have. All of it, and tell Ruby I want all the chocolate croissants. You heard me. All of them.”

Ruby walks in then with Aurora’s food just as Belle is about to answer. 

“God, Ping, don’t molest new customers.” Belle presses her lips together as not to laugh as Ruby’s words cause a chain reaction. Mulan jumps, her hand knocking against Aurora’s cup, Aurora reaches for the cup, their hands tangle, the cup almost falls. It doesn’t. Their hands drop away like they’ve touched fire and both are fumbling apologies. Ruby sets Aurora’s food down. Belle gives her a look. Her girlfriend is a horrible person. Ruby winks. 

She mouths _stop_.

Ruby blows her a kiss and turns to prepare Mulan’s coffee. Behind them the door dings open again, but this time Aurora doesn’t jump or turn, her attention fully captivated by Mulan who’s still apologising and introducing herself, reaching for her baseball cap which did fall on the floor and squeezing the brim between her hands. 

Doc walks in and sits in his regular booth. Leroy will be in soon then.

Belle decides to take pity on Mulan and Aurora. 

“Morning Mulan, see you’ve met Aurora.”

Mulan wrinkles her nose at Belle. “Ha, clearly. You couldn’t have warned me?”

Belle shrugs. “You were on a roll. I was about to.”

Aurora ducks down in her seat between them, “Sorry.”

Belle and Mulan wave her off. 

“It’s not your fault.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

Aurora nods, “It’s okay. You didn’t mean to. There was no harm done. We saved the cup.” She grabs her tea cup and takes a sip as if to show it’s okay.

Mulan smiles at her and maybe it’s because Belle is sat right next to her, but she can’t help but notice how Aurora straightens and sends her own bright smile back.

“That we did,” Mulan says. “Mulan.”

“Aurora,” she looks over at Belle, who takes her own sip of tea. “I’m new in town.”

Mulan slides back into her seat, her body angled toward Aurora now. “Welcome, sorry for accidentally molesting you. I promise I don’t do that often.” She cringes at her own words. “Or _ever_. Belle, Ruby, tell her.”

Belle finishes her tea and stands. That’s her cue. Also it’s almost time to open the library. Ruby turns immediately, her eyes drifting to the clock, then to Belle, and leans over the counter for a quick kiss Belle gives happily. 

“See you for lunch?”

Belle nods, “As usual.” She turns to Mulan and Aurora, the latter who is trying very hard not to blush at the PDA exhibited. Everyone else in town is used to it at this point. Mulan doesn’t even bat an eye and is grabbing a chocolate croissant from the display. 

“Aurora, you should come by if you find yourself having extra time on your hands as you’re getting settled.”

“Oh thank you, that would be lovely.” She grins at Belle and then looks over to Mulan for a quick second as Mulan pop a piece of pastry in her mouth.. 

Huh. Interesting. 

Belle nods. “Oh and don’t worry, Mulan is very nice. She’ll definitely never molest you.”

Ruby cuts in, setting Mulan’s coffee down. “Oh, now Belle, babe, don’t lie to Aurora. She’s new.”

Mulan’s cheeks tighten and she glares at both of them. “Aurora don’t listen to her. Only listen to Belle. Lesson one about these two: Ruby is a bad influence.”

Laughing, Ruby reaches over and kisses Mulan’s forehead as she moves around and goes to tend to Doc. “And proud of it!”

Mulan pretends to gag. Aurora giggles, the sound escaping her and reminding Belle of wind chimes that have just experienced a soft breeze. Mulan grins at her when she does. 

Very interesting. 

Belle waves at them, feeling happy at how wide her beautiful, troublemaker of a girlfriend is smiling, at how flustered and charmed Mulan seems by Ruby and Aurora respectively, and at how suddenly bright and cheerful Aurora seems. The weight that she had brought into the diner when she entered seemingly gone under Mulan attention.

At the door she turns back and catches Ruby’s eyes. She sighs and nods to to where Mulan and Aurora keep talking. Something about what’s lesson two. 

_Okay, maybe_ , she mouths.

Ruby wiggles her eyebrows and sends her a look that is purely _I told you so._ It reminds Belle of when they finally started going out and Ruby told her she had known from day one, from minute Belle sat down at the counter and ordered waffles.

Grabbing her favourite umbrella, Belle shrugs on Ruby’s red windbreaker and heads out. The rain is heavier than when she first woke up but Belle has never minded a nice rainy day. It’s perfect reading weather. Looking back into the diner where Mulan and Aurora are still talking, where she can see Ruby slipping into the back again, she thinks it's going to be a lovely day.


End file.
